Monday morning we call in to the strip but the rain had been replaced by a moderate breeze out of the SE. By this stage Pete Wilson had left and none of the remaining tug pilots were up for towing in the lee side of the some of the biggest hills Australia can throw at you. Their position was understandable but it was going to be a great day if only we could get off the ground.
Various options were toyed with. Towing in the flats somewhere, driving to another hill closer to Melbourne, anything. Eventually we settled on the Pines.
The Pines is one of those sites that I had heard about but never been off. Flying over it looked like it would work but at comps in the past, whenever it was a choice between the Pines and rest day the consensus from more experianced pilots would be to head to the river.
Arriving on launch I was actually quite impressed. I think these Mexicans are spoilt when it comes to the height of their launches. We made several references were made to getting a cup of…
About 50 punters and 20 hangies were out to give it a dig. A great turnout for a free flying weekend.
So we set up and talk tasks. Mt Beauty is decided as goal but landing in the mountains with this wind would not be all that much fun. So alternatively heading out to the flaties was also on the cards. Schmitty, Sam, Tony, Oli, Stuie and I, among others, were keen for some ks. Ed was also busting for his first XC.
Of the hangies, Oli launched first with me straight after. Together we climbed through several punters before reaching airspace directly above launch. Everyone else streamed off soon after and the usual suspects were soon up with us ready to go on glide.
A couple of punters headed west for Wang. Oli and I followed for the first 500m before we pulled on some extra speed make the overtaking manoeuvre all the more dramatic.
Our cockiness left us a little low at the end of the ridge. We dived in for a lee sider off the end of the ridge and climbed out to airspace once again. Decision time now, back into the mountains or tail wind into the flatlands. Oli topped out before I did and headed SW.
“Ok, flaties it is” I thought.
We went on glide until Oli stopped for a slow climb. We were both still high so I ploughed on through out to a cloud over Milawa and a good climb.
That was the last time I had company.
All alone now I thought about my options. “Been a while since I’d caught up with Tove” I chuckled to myself.
I had not waypoints in the 6030 so navigation would have to be from memory and what ever I could see on the ground. A high climb later and I could see a lake in front of me. In a moment of disbelief I thought that it was the lake along the Murray near Yarrawonga. Surely it’s not that close – it wasn’t.
My memory was now jolted from one of the tasks from Sportavia. We flew down past a lake near the Hume highway and that was the one I was now looking at. So I looked north for the other lake. Ah, that’s the one another 50km up there. Tocumwal should be just over to the left a bit then.
So that’s how it went for the next couple of hours. Get to base just short of 7000ft, look around for something I knew, line some nice clouds up and glide along them until I low enough to think about doing it all again. The 6030 was calling a 15-20kph breeze from the south so I stayed upwind of where I thought Toc was.
As towns started to appear along the Murray I tried to work out which was which by asking Ed, Deb and Liz in the retrieve car for some rough distances from the lake.
Still unable to spot Toc I track along south of the river. By this stage climbs were easing off but the air was still quite buoyant. Flying at this time of the day is very enjoyable providing you stay high.
Two great bits of news then came my way. The first was that the airport appeared in view and, second, even better was that when I finished this climb I should have it within glide.
As with every other time I have flown at Sportavia there was a strong climb directly over the hanger. Isn’t that typical?
Eventually I find a bit that’s not going up and land beside the pool. The place is somewhat dielectric these days. Pool is bone dry, grass all dead and cob webs seem to populate the hanger. A real shame after all the work Tove put into this place.
I jump on the phone to see if the Heaney’s are in town. As luck would have it Tove had just arrived home from work and was out at the hanger within minuites. Ed and girls were not far behind.
It had been way too long since we had caught up these guys. Hanna still has the worlds biggest smile and Thorry has become a real little Grant in the best possible way.
The new house is quite a site. Tove has put a lot of effort into getting everything just right. It has really paid dividends.
It was great to see that everything is going so well out there and we promised that we would soon be back out for a fly. I for one am looking forward to it.
So that’s Monday… Ed will soon be sending though a write up for Tuesday as he certainly did Canberra proud.
